Focus World
Amos Oz (born as Klausner) is considered Israel’s most famous author. Living, at least. He was born in 1939 and has been writing since the 1950’s. In 2002, Amos Oz released his autobiography called “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” which was written entirely in Hebrew. The version I have is in English, and although the translation is pretty good, I wonder, because Amos Oz loves writing about language. The book is filled with stories about his childhood and his relatives that immigrated from Eastern Europe and Russia to Israel. Too many, if we’re honest to ever fit in a 95 minute movie.
So… where does that leave us?
The movie A Tale of Love and Darkness is adapted from the book of the same name and is written and directed by Natalie Portman as her directorial debut, in a movie entirely in Hebrew. As a debut, I was impressed, because this isn’t a movie that plays it safe. But if you think about the directors she’s worked with: Terrence Malick, Wes Anderson, Miloš Forman, Mike Nichols, and even my fave Darren Aronofsky. Sure, there’s some George Lucas, and she was pretty young with The Professional so I don’t count that.
But she’s bound to have picked up a few things along the way.
This film is narrated by an older Amos Oz as he talks about his life as a boy growing up during the creation of the State of Israel. Amir Tessler plays the young Amos, who lives with his parents in Jerusalem. His father Arieh (Gilad Kahana) is a failed academic who may be a sort of genius, but can only find work as a librarian. His books, complex treatises about the Hebrew language, do not get sold. He’s an old school rationalist Jewish nerd, a peacenik.
His mother Fania is played by Natalie Portman, and she gets a lot of the “juicy” bits. In the book, Amos does often speak of his mother, but she’s just one of the focal points of his life. Here the focus was Amos and his relationship with his mother and stories. Fania tells all sorts of stories to her son, many of which are not entirely appropriate. The movie switches between the coldness of reality and dreaminess of fantasy in ways that are fascinating, because it’s all done in small, carefully calculated ways.
Amos learns about the harshness of life through the depression of his mother, the disappointment of his father, and the horrors of war. As he grows up in a time of want and difficulty, it’s already hard enough. Once British turns over control and the fighting begins, it’s only more perilous. Amos Oz takes a strong stance in general about a two state solution in Israel, and here he paints the struggle poetically, which the movie does well in portraying, often using his exact words.
Stories and their power over reality and the inverse are a big theme here. Amos used stories to change his own life for the better, but he couldn’t change all the bad things. It’s a moving but wrenching story.
The kid, Amir Tessler, was really excellent — child actors aren’t often that great, but Amir was very good in playing this kid filled with curiosity and worry. Gilad Kahana also does well, playing a character who’s not nearly as complex as some of the others. Of course, Natalie Portman gives herself some of the most complicated material, and I think she pulls it off. As the characters fall into despair, the movie gets more weird and evocative, playing with light and shadow.
I think it works well with the themes of love and darkness, taking some of the long meandering passages from the book and turning them into scenes that hit you hard. The book could never have been adapted word for word, but the spirit is still there. This movie is dark and historical and foreign, so it’s not for everyone. But I really liked it.
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